PaiN

Hi guys, well the temperature she is a droppin, and its time to start doing some of those little things to eeeeek some more potential out of the car. I decided it was time to install a race seat. My current driver seat is your standard leather full power bucket, which weighs in in the ballpark of 40lbs.

So what seat to get? I'm your typical fat-boy, and man they just don't make those seats for us (well some do, but the weight saving is not near as much). There are polymer, and metal seats to choose from. I finally decided on a "economy" aluminum race seat by KIRKEY. It was fairly cheap, and I could get the seat cover, and brackets all from JEGS. In case I needed to modd it... I wouldn't be losing too much if I trashed the seat. Also I figured a metal seat would be easier to mod than a polymer seat. So I charged away, and it arrived in like 3 days.

here it is right out of the box:

Its a nice looking seat. I was told the weight was aprox 10-12 lbs. We measured it at 13 lbs right out of the box. This seat is also fairly wide. My fat butt could sit in it comfortably.

Issue #1

A quick look at the mounting brackets ( which are no more than 4 short pieces of 2" angled metal ), revealed they weren't long enough to span any of the stock mounting studs, and were otherwise useless without serious modification. In other words...don't waste your money!

Issue #2

You can see on the top pic of the seat, that the extended lips on the side of the seat really will reduce the room to get in, and out. (Might be okay if your thin...but not for me)

So we applied a little modding to the seat...with the trusty jig~saw

We just removed the rubber liner from around the seat first, then made the cut, you can see we left a little peice of the corner, so as to keep a little strength. (don't want the seat folding back on me during a hard launch...although I doubt it would...its a very sturdy seat...and BONUS...less weight now!!)

Issue #3
How to mount the damn thing? We looked at swapping off the brackets from the power seat ( too much weight); the passenger side non power seat ( height, and fitment issues ). FInally decided to make out own. So we went down to the hardware store and picked up some Aluminum flat bar, and Angle peices.

What we ended up with is a mount that uses the original rear seat studs, and the mounting bracket for the drivers side rear seat cushion. It has a good ride height, is simple, and effectively moves the weight of the bracketry to behind more below/behind the seat (rather than below,in front of the seat with the stock bracketry)

here is a pick of the front of the bracket: Note there is also a cross peice (hard to see between the two legs)


here is a pic of the rear of the bracket:


In the pics it is bolted together...it will be welded and painted. It can then be removed installed by 4 bolts, and comes out of the car just as easy as the original seat (actually easier considering the weight difference).

Here is a pic of the seat mounted in the car: To mount the seat just set it flat on the brackets, 4 holes drilled, and some mounting bolt...and viola!


Issue #4

Seat cover. In triming the side ...we trimed off one of the holding snaps for the seat cover. So I'll have to gets some stick on velcro tabs to fix it. Here's a pic:


The set up is very easy to get in and out of, amazingly comfortable ( not like I'm planning any 500mi drives ). And freaking LIGHT WEIGHT! . The mount is really sturdy too, I got in it and jumped all around on the seat, not much give. When I get it welded it should be even stronger.

I give this job a difficulty of 2 out of 5 wrenches! <img src="images/icons/tongue.gif" border="0"> , Anyways...some of you may find it interesting.

Larry

[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: PaiN ]</p>

CHRISPY

Looks cool!
How is the padding?
Chris

PaiN

[quote]Originally posted by Chris ARE 360:
<strong>How is the padding?
</strong><hr></blockquote>

3/4 to 1' thick foam one pad under the butt, and one for the back. hehe like I said I wouldn't be making a cross country trip in it <img src="images/icons/grin.gif" border="0">

Trevor @ Texas Speed & Perf.

iTrader: (3)

That's some great info Larry! That's one of the most detailed tech posts I've seen in a long time. I still have a LONG way to go on my car before I'll warrant a race seat, but it's good to know for future reference. <img src="images/icons/smile.gif" border="0">
So when will the Formula be deep into the 10's?

Jacobi

(Clears throat) To me and my experience, that looks like a little more than 2 out of 5 wrenches...hehe!

Crazyquik

Sure its comfortable, thats why they called you PaiN <img src="images/icons/wink.gif" border="0">

PaiN

[quote]Originally posted by Crazyquik:
<strong>Sure its comfortable, thats why they called you PaiN <img src="images/icons/wink.gif" border="0"> </strong><hr></blockquote>


LOL, hey man I can ride in it all the way to the pharmacy to pick up a new tube of Preparation-H.

Seriously though I haven't had any real seat time in it..since my car is under the knife right now.

MARO-KEEN

iTrader: (10)

Pain, you take any more weight out of that car it's gonna take flight.LOL <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[Burnout]" /> by the way thanks for the fix at shop the other day.

patrick

[ November 28, 2001: Message edited by: camaro-KEEN ]</p>

timelord

I have 2 kirkey aluminium racing seats + 5 point RJS bealts in my Z.I put over 30kms on the car in them and can tell you they are great.The 2 tracks I have been running the past 3 seasons are 120 mile & 170 mile trips,besides the absence of recline no problem.I kept mine intact though,bit of a pain getting in & out but the support they offer is amazing.Seats are the ONE thing I hated about the car,build a supercar and put unsupportive & uncomfortable seats in it that you slide around on.But then it is a GM,so not totally surprising.It is worth it,I highly recommend it. <img src="images/icons/grin.gif" border="0"> <img src="images/icons/grin.gif" border="0"> <img src="images/icons/grin.gif" border="0">
P.S.// I mounted them on the stock bases.It blows peoples minds when they see my POWER ADJUSTABLE racing seats.FUNNY.

[ November 28, 2001: Message edited by: timelord ]</p>

Trevor @ Texas Speed & Perf.

iTrader: (3)

[quote]Originally posted by PaiN:
<strong>since my car is under the knife right now.</strong><hr></blockquote>
<img src="images/icons/grin.gif" border="0"> I'll keep an eye out in the drag racing forum in the upcoming weeks.

Terry Burger

iTrader: (4)

Great info! What was the total weight of the new setup, around 18# with bracket?

PaiN

No prob on "the fix" Patrick , LOL!

Terry not sure on the weight...I'll try and get a weight for you of the whole assembly.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Oh Larrrrrrrry..........

I picked up a used racing seat last nite, Looks just like the Jegs Pro high back race seat.

I weighed it, and with the black vinyl covering/padding, it was exactly 15lbs.

Any chance you could fix your broken links?

PaiN

I'll try to get em online asap.

Something is hosed with my ftp proggy, and I couldn't upload the pics last night. I will reinstall tonight, and try and get them back online

PaiN

here you go PSJ